07 - Downtown Plan Update - Community Growth Institute

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I. Executive Summary While Minnesota's Central Lakes Region is experiencing unprecedented levels of growth and development, a number of communities in the region are following national trends and seeking to revitalize,or in some instances recreate,their historic downtowns. These efforts have varying advantages and disadvantages. Developers in the City of Baxter are attempting to build an auto-oriented "downtown" amongst the big-box retail that defines the city. Coalitions are forming in Brainerd to focus efforts on revitalizing that has suffered from years of deterioration. Nisswa, its popular historic downtown limited by surrounding development, is considering establishing a new and separate downtown area that would resemble Baxter's model in design. Crosslake, borrowing a page from the New Urbanist movement, is working to establish a center town square in a community that has no natural center. Only Pequot Lakes has the combination of desire and the ease of opportunity to turn dreams of a destination downtown into reality. The existing Pequot Lakes downtown, centered on the former railroad stop, has the natural pattern of the historic downtown. A stable base of quality businesses provides the anchor from which growth can build. There is ample room for expansion, which can be supported year-round by the residential neighborhoods within walking distance. Pending highway improvements will make Pequot Lakes even more accessible to the area. The trail park is a largely untapped amenity that few downtowns can provide. The advantages all of this gives Pequot Lakes are enormous. The cost of the downtown improvements proposed in this report, though daunting, should not be an obstacle. Much of the roughly$4.5 million needed to fully implement the plan includes street improvements that are necessary regardless of the City's approach to the downtown. The ability to identify and make value-added improvements during what would otherwise be maintenance projects gives the City an opportunity to -- make wise and efficient spending decisions. While assessments are a necessary and key component of the overall funding and redevelopment strategies, other funding mechanisms will also be important. Tax increment financing and tax abatement are incentives that can be justified by the long- term economic and social value of a healthy downtown. Sales tax revenue, particularly that which is generated within the downtown, provides a mechanism to capture outside money to fund an area-wide destination. Negotiations with Mn/DOT and Crow Wing County in the Highway 371 project, along with partnerships with the DNR, must all be leveraged to implement the plan. With debate continuing over the ultimate alignment of Highway 371, it is important to acknowledge that the establishment of a destination downtown is both critical to and completely independent of the ultimate decision on the highway. Pequot Lakes Downtown Plan—Updated February 20o8 2